Unspoken Love
by jewelmonkey
Summary: Sora and friends come over for the summer which leaves Roxas and Ariel waiting anxiously for their arrival. Alot of swearing for Axel's part and Roxas is slightly in denial for the feelings he has for his best friend. RoxasxOC.
1. Hotheads, Gifts and Cases

This is probably my first Kingdom Hearts story I ever thought up of so go easy on me 'kay:D

This chapter's actually just a "fun" one for me to write. I actually did come back from the pet store before beginning to type this chapter out so yeah.

Criticisms on any grammar mistakes are more than welcome. Please read&review, thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Kingdom Hearts. Only Ariel (my character).

**Unspoken Love**

_Hotheads, gifts and cases_

"Aww, Roxas! What about this one?"

"I.. don't think Riku would like that…"

Ariel sighed disappointedly and placed the blue t-shirt back onto its respective shelf neatly.

The reason behind the story of Ariel dragging her best friend to the Sunset Mall was because of Roxas' relative and a couple of friends arriving in just the next two days to Destiny Islands. Being so, she had to get at least _one_ gift for each of them because it has been a long while since she'd met them.

Though, Roxas disagreed with her.

"C'mon.. let's just leave. Riku wouldn't like these anyway", Roxas persuaded, giving the back of Ariel's head a weary look while she began to dig through the many jeans on the lower shelves. Even though she couldn't see him, he waved a lazy hand to the many clothes hanging in every inch of the store before continuing, "And you can just buy him lunch.. dinner.. or something… You don't even know his size, right?"

It seemed his last statement had hit the jackpot. The spiky blonde head had folded his arms across his chest as he surveyed the back of his best friend quietly, watching her every move. Her head jerked just a friction upward which indicated that she was pondering over on what he had said; her hand was stretched towards a pair of black denim jeans but seemed to have stopped midway when Roxas had finished his question.

He began to grin when he noted that Ariel had dunked her head in defeat and let her outstretched hand drop to her side. He always knew the girl's limits and how to force her to do whatever he wanted. It came with the package of being her best friend and vice versa. Personally, he adored the way she was the only one allowed to call him _Roxy_. Anyone else who tried using that nickname on him would find themselves friendless or unforgiven for a very long time. Still, it was only she that flowed her way under his skin the way she does.

Roxas waited patiently for her to respond an utter of recognition that she couldn't win against this argument as he lazily observed the dark brown layered hair on the back of her head.

After a while, it came. With a long sigh that was full of regret and aggravation.

"Okay fine.. But you have to take me to the pet store!", she shot angrily at the now smiling blonde as she got up from her kneeling position and straightened.

"Sure", Roxas replied, the smile still plastered on his face and that was very visible through his tone of voice as he began to turn tail and walk out of the store with Ariel following closely behind.

Once they reached the exit doors of Abercrombie and Fitch, Ariel sighed yet again though not as forcefully as earlier.

"What am I going to get them?", she wondered out loud, rolling her dark brown eyes to the mall's tall ceiling as she walked alongside her buddy.

Roxas didn't bother to reply as he simply shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and continued with his trek towards the pet store on the other side of the mall.

In his opinion, he would have said that she didn't need to get anything for the three that were visiting since their stay wasn't permanent. But no matter how many times he had tried to explain the situation at hand to her, she would ignore it or say how rude she would be if there wasn't a single gift for them. It was better for him to keep his mouth shut and let her fume quietly on her own. It'll all be over anyway, once she sets her sights on Petland.

As if true to his thoughts, Roxas glanced at Ariel and saw that her eyes sparkled with an unnatural bright light and the frown on her lips from just a second before curled into a big grin. Feeling amused by her sudden change of emotions, Roxas rolled his sapphire blue eyes while shaking his head.

"Come on!", she said happily, as she hooked a slender arm with his and dragged him forward to their destination, earning a short shout of surprise from the blonde at the sudden lunge.

Once inside of the less crowded store than Abercrombie, Ariel let go of Roxas' arm and proceeded on walking along the aisles, staring in interest at the animals behind the glass windows.

The blonde slowly trudged along behind her, also gazing at the animals which turned out to be puppies of all sorts of colors and sizes. In one window, he saw two small baby Chihuahuas cuddled together peacefully taking a nap while behind another glass panel, he saw a Saint Bernard chewing merrily at his red plush ball.

He was inspecting a rather small black Cocker Spaniel near the bottom of the display windows when he heard Ariel speak quietly to herself.

"He's not here…"

Lifting his eyes up to her retreating back, he asked suspiciously, "Who?"

"The small yellow retriever me and Axel saw a while ago.. It's not here anymore..", Ariel replied, a worried look crossing her features as she sighed and turned back around, facing the blonde who was now giving her a blank but questioning look. She began to explain in a gentle tone, "It was so cute Roxas.. It reminded me of you.. I wanted it so much.."

Feeling oddly relieved that she wasn't searching for a _person_, he began to chuckle at her words. He knew of her fondness and admiration towards animals and small creatures. Mostly puppies; there wasn't one time she hadn't squealed in delight when she saw a dog walking down the street before yanking onto Roxas' arm and nearly yelling about how _cute_ it was.

"Maybe he got sold…", Roxas said thoughtfully, tearing his gaze away from her and back onto one of the glass windows. "When did you come here anyway.. with Axel?"

"Hm? Oh. It was when you and Hayner had a detention last week remember?", she said over her shoulder as she walked further down the aisles while peering into the small square-like containers for the puppies. Roxas winced at the mention of his detention with the hot-tempered Hayner. It wasn't even his fault for being held up after school in D101; after all, Hayner was the one who insisted on throwing a paper ball at the back of the teacher's head before tossing one at Roxas who was unfortunate to catch it, which resulted in the professor thinking the innocent blonde had done it. Of course, Roxas had a temper of his own and wasn't about to be blamed for the crime Hayner had committed. It had taken some shouts and arguments to get it through the principal's head that he was entirely guilt-free, but the man only believed him barely.

"I asked Axel to take me, so he did."

Roxas began to laugh. It was impossible to persuade the redheaded Axel to do anything the spiky blonde desired; he wondered vaguely on how Ariel managed to drag him along.

"Of course he didn't want to at first, but.. I kind of convinced him."

Ariel was squatting down to get a better view on one of the lower tank-like structures as she grinned up at Roxas who lifted an eyebrow while smiling. "How did you convince him?"

She shrugged and shifted her eyes to the brown puppies in front of her that were pawing their way through the glass. "You know how he's really good at math? But terrible at Biology?"

Roxas nodded in understanding, giving her the signal to continue.

"Well, I promised that I would get his project on Darwin's theory of evolution done before it's due date."

"What? The teachers aren't idiots to not tell the difference between Axel and your handwriting."

Ariel smiled smugly up at him once again before saying in a quiet yet mischievous tone. "I know.. That's why I went to Demyx next. Dem's a water guy.. He loves the ocean, and he's really smart on the science field, so.. I made another deal."

Roxas sighed in disbelief before forcing himself to ask, "And how..?"

"A couple of hugs and begging did the trick", Ariel giggled as she got up from her sit and slowly ushered along the narrow way to take a look at the other canines.

Roxas remained standing on the same spot with his hands shoved back into his pockets. Was Ariel really that convincing to even manage to toy around with _Axel_? He had better be more wary of her or he might just find himself doing something he would definitely regret in his lifetime.

Still, it amazed him how knowing her for all 15 years, he still managed to spoil her like a younger sister. He sighed inwardly and gave a small smile at Ariel's direction once he heard her gasp and call his name animatedly. Making his way towards her, he saw that her eyes were settled onto a light grey and white husky with icy blue eyes. It was definitely categorized under _beautiful_, yet something about it made the blond teen wary.

Roxas frowned lightly at the blank expression the puppy was giving the two of them. It looked awfully much like a wolf than a dog, however Ariel felt differently.

"Roxas, Roxas! Let's play with him for a bit!", she said in a high-pitched tone as she pulled onto his wrist that was still in his pants pocket.

He released the hand that was not being tormented by Ariel from his pocket and began tugging onto one of his blonde spikes, not knowing what to say. His determination of not doing anything he'll regret later was about to be proven and put to work.

"I.. I think we should just..", he began slowly, finding it a very bad mistake on meeting his eyes with hers. The dark brown orbs were damp in spirit at his words and had a slight pleading look to them. Feeling his own eyes soften, he quickly looked away, but it was too late. He had seen her _eyes_, and the sad look on her face.

"Rox.. Roxas, please?"

_Damn._

He sighed for what felt like the tenth time that day and nodded weakly, still keeping his eyes away from hers. His head was dipped low to ensure that the front of his bangs fell over his eyes to hide the sudden disappointed appearance in the deep blue pools.

There was a small yell of triumph before Ariel began to call at no one in particular for a worker.

"Maybe we should.. I don't know, keep quiet? This is still the mall, you know..", Roxas said quietly, finally giving her a look that plainly stated 'if you don't shut up I'm going to leave you here and go'.

Ariel simply smiled but was soon grinning when a lady with a light brown worker's outfit began to walk towards them in long prideful strides.

"May I help you?"

Ariel nudged Roxas' side with an elbow which he didn't respond to but fidget as he cleared his throat and answered the lady's question. "Um, yeah... We'd like to see that one.. If we can."

He nodded slightly towards the husky that was now giving the three of them a curious look as the woman turned and after seeing who he motioned at, smiled.

"You're the fourth pair today wanting to see him."

Roxas didn't say anything, but felt a bit puzzled by her words.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Ariel asked, and the lady had shaken her head.

"No, there isn't. I just find it incredible that a puppy that's so adorably cute would still not be sold. Oh, I'm sorry I'm getting digressing. Sure you can see him! You can just pick a booth near the corner over there and I'll settle him in with you."

She pointed a little bit farther down the end of the hallway where there seemed to be a curve in the structure of the store because the booths she mentioned was out of sight.

Ariel, however, thanked the worker and obliged on walking to the direction to the booths with a light spring in her step. Roxas stayed lingering slightly behind the overjoyed Ariel and almost groaned. Great, the workers were just as crazy about puppies as _she_ is.

I guess that's just what he expected for workers at _Petland_; just his luck.

Indeed when the two turned the corner, they saw four booths against the wall with a strip of a long wooden plank separating each. Settling herself in one of them and sitting down on the small ledge that was provided, Ariel watched Roxas swing the three foot door behind her though he hadn't joined her inside.

"Not coming in?" she asked wonderingly, tilting her head on an angle.

Roxas shook his head, his lips in a half-smile. "I'm fine.. You have fun."

Ariel pouted but Roxas could tell it was all just a show. He knew that she was bursting from energy on being able to spend time with a puppy. And personally… he thought he'd like to see her happy even though it was just for a little while.

A minute later, the worker from earlier brought out the husky from the back of the employees room and walked carefully over to the booth Ariel was in, trying her best not to drop the fluffy grey and white ball of fur in her hands.

Passing Roxas, the dog stared at him with one eye that made the teenager feel a bit uneasy. After handing the dog over to the thrilled Ariel, the worker laughed good-heartedly and mentioned to Roxas that once Ariel was finished, she could bring the dog back up to the front counter.

When Roxas nodded, the woman left, leaving Ariel, the puppy and Roxas alone in the small part of the store while the other customers strayed from the mammal section to the reptiles and then to the aquariums and so forth.

Feeling a bit relaxed now that Ariel had finally got what she wanted, Roxas stepped up in front of the booth and placed an arm on the flat platform on top of the door that swung open for people to emit inside or out.

He watched as Ariel was petting the top of the rather calm creature that was now resting on her lap.

Ariel, noticing Roxas' stares, smiled at him. "Isn't he so cute?", she whispered, but failed at trying to not wake the puppy because it began to stir.

Opening one crystal blue eye, the husky saw something shine from his left and looked up to see a throwing star shaped pendant hanging from the girl's neck. After a quick second of considering what it was and whether he should bite it, he chose the latter.

"H-Hey!", Roxas called in desperation as he helplessly watched the demon gnaw on to the silver of the charm. "It's mine, don't bite!"

Ariel found it really funny on hearing Roxas' protests as she removed the chain and its pendant away from the puppy's mouth while saying in an all-knowing tone, "It's okay Roxas. Puppy teeth are too delicate to break anything yet. And anyway, this is real right?", she raised the throwing star in front of her and smiled sweetly. "It won't damage since it's real."

Roxas didn't press on the issue, but a low growl was rumbling in his throat. That necklace had been his favorite and lending it to Ariel for wear was not a good decision, he presumed. Preventing himself from rolling his eyes, Roxas dangled his arm from the counter and sighed, "How long are we staying?"

"Do you really want to go soon?", Ariel asked surprised at Roxas' small tone of impatience, which caused her to be distracted from the odd gleam on the puppy's eyes as it inspected Roxas' dangling wrist in interest.

But before Roxas could tell Ariel on what she wanted to know, he began to hiss in pain after being bitten by the dog on his hand. Obviously, the husky was aiming for the black and white checkered wristband on Roxas' wrist, but failed and bit the skin right below his thumb.

Holding back a sigh and an attempt to laugh, Ariel pulled the dog away from Roxas before he did further damage which allowed the now irritated blonde to massage his painful hand.

"I guess it's time to go now..", Ariel muttered to herself, biting back a giggle at the annoyed look on Roxas' face and kissed the puppy lightly on the forehead before permitting herself out of the booth and towards the front counter.

Ariel saw the same employee there, filing a few bills and thanked her sincerely before dropping the dog in the woman's possession. Said person had accepted the dog with a smile, but before Ariel and Roxas could leave, she called them back.

"Ah, excuse me!"

Not sure on who she was calling at, both of the teens turned and gave the woman a curious look as she made their way towards the two with the puppy still in her arms.

"I'm sorry to stop you, but... I'd like to make a request."

"A request?", Roxas and Ariel both asked in unison as the stranger nodded and smiled.

"You see, what I said earlier about this dog..", she glanced down at the sleeping puppy in her arms as she continued, "..No one, as of yet, even was able to touch him before you two came along. The customers were rather frightened after staying with him for only a minute…If you are interested, if this puppy is still available in the next couple of days, would you like purchasing him? Since puppies who are over 2 months gets departed to the humane society but their prices gets reduced in half."

The request struck both of the two dumb. Roxas had grown tense and glanced at Ariel out of the corner of his eye, hoping and wishing that she wouldn't say what he thought she'd say. However, the surprised and amazed look on the young girl's face made him think differently. He almost groaned when he heard her say that she would most definitely appreciate if the worker held onto the dog a little longer.

Once Ariel had arranged her phone number in the Shop's computer for keeping just in case the dog did not get sold, said girl joined Roxas outside of the pet store with a bright smile.

After a minute of aimlessly searching for the exit of the mall, Ariel turned to Roxas with a concerned expression. "How's your hand?"

He gave her a glare and shook his head. "Nothing serious."

"That's good..", she mumbled quietly that Roxas couldn't even hear, but before he could ask her to repeat what she said, a certain flash of red from a few feet away caught his eye.

It was the fiery red headed Axel talking -no, _arguing_- with the owner of a small shop stand that sold instrumental cases. Wondering on what Axel would do in the mall and mostly in front of an unlikely place, Roxas mindlessly walked over with a confused Ariel following suit.

The couple had reached the two, but Axel seemed too distracted to take notice as he continued in a quiet but deathly tone of voice. "What the hell do you mean you don't have it here?"

"I'm sorry, sir but we don't carry that here anymore. Sitar cases are specially made in the Melodious Corporation these days", the man with the black trimmed beard had informed an angry Axel, feeling immensely intimidated.

"Well, you know what to do, right? Call up those damn bastards and order one. _NOW_", Axel's emerald green eyes flashed which usually emitted as a warning, which Roxas wasn't going to take. Not here in the middle of the mall where many people would be witnesses if Axel lost his temper now and fought this salesman. After all, both Roxas and Ariel knew what Axel was capable of, being the hot-tempered unnaturally good-fighter he was.

"Axel", Roxas said in warning which made Ariel nod in agreement before saying gently, "Calm down.."

The redhead blinked once before turning his head at an angle to see the two younger teens giving him a cautious look. He snorted and shook his head. "Dammit.. What the hell are you two doing here?"

"That's what I want to ask you", Roxas began, leading Axel away from the heated conversation he had with the owner of the shop. The owner gave confused yet thankful glances at Roxas and Ariel before slowly avoiding the furious redhead and inching towards the other end of the shop, away from Axel's view.

Said redhead folded his arms across his chest and cocked his head to the right, giving his two friends a stern look. "And the reason for knowing..?"

Roxas glowered and Ariel sighed. Axel had a bad temper and a terrible personality at times, but she managed to get on his good side after being introduced to him by Roxas. At first, she felt a bit nervous around the redhead, until Demyx had told her about Axel's good deed he had accomplished; he managed to drive off huge Blitz ball players from attacking Demyx single-handedly. Ariel found that quite impressive and a loyal thing to do for your friends, so she had become to respect Axel. Unfortunately, even though his temper had cooled down a bit after hanging around Roxas and his friends so much, it was still a dangerous idea to linger if the redhead was getting irritated.

Axel seemed to notice Roxas' death glare because he smirked and chuckled under his breathe. "That idiot Dem sent me to get his fucking sitar case."

"Sitar case?", Roxas asked, his bad mood disappearing and had turned into interest.

"I thought Demy already had one?", Ariel asked surprised. It was quite shocking to know that the mullet-head Demyx wouldn't have a sitar case after being a musician for as long as she knew. It was nearly impossible to see Dem without a sitar. His _beloved_ sitar, he would call it.

"Oh, yeah.. About that..", Axel said, suddenly looking a bit apprehensive and awkward as he scratched the tear-shaped tattoo under one of his cheeks and sighed. "It was an accident, but It caught on fire."

Ariel gave a shaky laugh. Of course… Axel loved to play with fire and wouldn't mind if anything got hurt or burned during the process.

Roxas sighed. "I can't believe this.."

"Then what are you doing here? Trying to replace his old one?", Ariel asked.

Axel nodded, his stray arm that was rubbing his cheek had folded across his chest again with the other as he grinned. "But this bastard-", he nodded towards the shop keeper who was desperately trying to busy himself by calling someone on the phone before continuing in a bored manner, "-said there wasn't any here."

"Well.. I heard you can always order them online?", Ariel suggested kindly, smiling as Roxas stood next to her, watching the conversation unfold.

Axel seemed to consider it, as if the thought never crossed his mind. He shook his head, causing a few strands of red hair to fall onto his forehead as he replied in a gruff voice, "I'm not gonna do all this shit for him. It was an accident it caught on fire. Anyway. I digress."

He glanced up, his green eyes sparkling mischievously as he smirked at the two, who recoiled nervously.

"What brings _you two _here?"

Roxas had recovered from his sudden suspicions of Axel's change of topic and said quickly, "W-we were just looking for some gifts..!"

Ariel looked thoughtfully at Roxas. Why was he becoming so defensive over a question?

Axel smirked again, rolling his eyes to the ceiling and saying in a toneless voice. "Right.."

It was a quiet but fuming moment for Roxas, as he balled his hands into two fists at his sides. Damn, how many times did he have to tell Axel that she was just a friend! Nothing more.. Well, maybe as a little sister, but that was it!

"Well kiddies, I can't stay long. Better tell the idiot he has to replace that damn case on his own. See ya", Axel gave one last half-smile at Ariel while ruffling Roxas' hair gently before walking past the two and waving once over his shoulder.

Ariel turned to Roxas and saw his eyes were slightly narrowed after the redhead. She sighed, and shook her head. _Boys_.


	2. Last Day

**A/N**: I noticed a few people added this story to their favorites and I'm glad they at least enjoy it. :D But I would love it more if you would review. wink wink

**Unspoken Love**

_Last Day_

It was Thursday, the last day for the students at Twilight High until summer break.

Ariel found herself clutching onto her math notebooks as she walked through the C section hallway in which Roxas' locker was situated. She glanced over at the yellow door, but saw that it was untouched and deserted. Frowning, she made her way to her own locker in D section, wondering why Roxas wouldn't be at school yet.

Once she reached her yellow locker, she freed an arm from holding onto her books and was reaching towards the silver handle when someone had slammed their fist onto the thin door.

Ariel looked up and saw that what she was staring at were the icy blue eyes of Seifer, the school's delinquent, though not as big of one as Axel was himself.

Ignoring the intense gaze he was giving her, she turned the lock on its combination to open the door but couldn't, due to the fact that Seifer's fist was still connected with the yellow locker.

"Seifer.. Would you move? I can't open my locker…", Ariel said quietly, still looking at anywhere but at his eyes.

"I'm sorry what was that? I couldn't hear you", the blonde said cockily as he smirked and leaned his ear closer to her lips.

But before Ariel had a chance to speak or even slap the man, another voice had spoken.

"Then let me. Get the fuck off her locker, dumbass."

Startled, Ariel and Seifer had both turned their heads to look at Axel, who now arrived at the scene. He didn't have his usual smirk on his lips, but his face was straight and serious.

"Axel…", Ariel called softly, grateful and a bit surprised that Axel was there. The Junior lockers were in E hall which were nearly ten minutes away from the Freshmen D section. She studied Axel's face and saw that he was fixing Seifer with a cold death glare while having his hands shoved deep within his school uniform pants.

"Axel", Seifer had said kindly, almost in greeting as he took one step backwards from Ariel. "Yo, man. How's it been?"

Axel smirked in high amusement. "Shut up and just get your ass out of here."

Seifer scowled and glanced at Ariel once before frowning at Axel. "You think you can just boss me-"

"Man, you're slow", Axel complained as he cracked his neck at an odd angle before sighing. "I don't have time to waste on dipshits like you."

Seifer, who seemed to get the point taken, had lifted a palm in a goodbye fashion before scrambling out of the hallway and out of sight.

Ariel began to laugh, as she finally turned the padlock to its respective numbers and lifted the silver handle to open the locker door. She was just going to place her math books in the top shelf and retrieve her sketchbook for her first morning class when she asked, "Thanks Axel, but what are you doing here anyway?"

Axel muttered something under his breathe that sounded like 'talk to Roxas'.

"Oh, he's in C section, but I didn't see him at his locker earlier.. I think he's coming to school late..", Ariel replied, as she now carried her sketchbook and pencil case before shutting her locker. She then turned to the redhead with a smile, who in turn, gave her a small smirk.

"You know, Dem set up a date on when Nocturne's opening…"

"Really? So Xigbar's positive he's going to open it?", Ariel said, her eyes lighting up as Axel laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Yea.. Right when summer break starts so there's more customers. He said to come and bring along anyone who wants to go."

"Oh, so that's what you wanted to talk to Roxas about?"

"Pretty much."

Ariel grinned now, the slight annoyance she got from Seifer had disappeared as she heard from Axel that Nocturne was opening. Nocturne was a club that was still under construction. Demyx's foster father had decided to bring a bit of "fun" to Destiny Islands and thought up of creating a club for the ever lustful high school students. Xigbar and Demyx would be the only ones working and providing the club for now until they chose to elect workers which wasn't any time soon.

Ariel was about to ask when Axel was going to the club, but just then the morning bell had rung throughout the entire school, causing every student to quickly gather their things and head to their first hour class.

"Ah, well when are you going to Nocturne, Axel?", Ariel asked hastily.

"This Saturday. Rox said he didn't have anything planned."

"Oh, then can I come with you? I really want to see how it looks", Ariel said, laughing lightly as she stared up at Axel's green eyes pleadingly.

He rolled his eyes, grinning. "Why not?"

Her smile widening, she made a move to embrace the redhead thankfully when she thought the better of it. Axel was her friend, but it didn't mean that she had the rights to hug him whenever she wanted to.. He wouldn't be comfortable with it.

So instead, the young girl waved merrily at her friend before she and Axel had separated and walked to their first session that were located in different hallways.

00000000

"Namine, am I doing this right?"

"Yes. Just keep shading and it'll be perfect."

Ariel sighed as she held her pencil steady and began to stroke in a back and forward motion on a page in her sketchbook. The assignment for the art class was to draw a realistic picture of an item you think would be a good topic and Ariel had chosen something simple: a Paopu fruit.

Her chosen topic however had turned out to be even more difficult than what she had planned. The star fruit's angle was positioned incorrectly and the leaf that was usually found attached to the Paopu was just too thin and narrow.

Thinking it was entirely hopeless to save her drawing now, she turned the page and stared at a new blank paper, thinking up of another subject to draw. She glanced up at the clock that was hanging on the other side of the room. _Forty more minutes until Lunch_

Without knowing or having any idea of what to draw, Ariel began to absentmindedly doodle on her sketchpad as she asked Namine, "Have you seen Roxas this morning?"

There wasn't any particular reason why Ariel had asked this. Namine was another good friend of Roxas', and since the white-blond head had the same section where her locker was located as the blond boy, she thought she'd ask. And she was bored, so that could be stricken as another good reason on asking.

"No, I haven't", Namine said pleasantly as she too, was working hard on her own drawing of a Paopu. Jealousy boiled at the bottom of Ariel's stomach as she glanced over at her friend's work and saw that Namine's picture looked nearly tangible.

"Oh..", Ariel replied quietly. Where _was _Roxas? It was really rare to not see the blond in the morning at his locker since he arrives to school on time. There wasn't once where he was late unless he hadn't had enough sleep the night before. Curiosity struck her as she thought long and hard. But her though train had soon broken when Namine had started conversation.

"Have you heard of Nocturne opening tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I was planning on going tomorrow with a couple of friends. Are you going too?"

Namine shrugged her pale shoulders. "I'm not sure.."

"You should. Roxas' cousin is coming over and he might want to go clubbing", Ariel giggled. She hadn't really thought of Sora and the others. There was a chance that the brunet might go too since he and Riku loved the club at Twilight. Kairi would probably tag along as well, afraid to be left behind…

"Maybe I'll go", Namine smiled at Ariel before bending over slightly to the right to glance at Ariel's drawing. She smiled again once she saw what the sketch was.

"Huh?", Ariel said sounding a bit puzzled as she looked down at her book. A small pink blush crept upon her face when she saw that she drew an imitation of the real Roxas except the doodle had him eating sea-salt ice cream. That was Roxas' favorite treat.

"Ahh", Ariel began, frantically erasing the picture and only managed on getting rid of his arm, when Namine suddenly grabbed her wrist. Looking up, Ariel saw that Namine shook her head slightly to the side with a visible tiny smile.

"Keep it."

Ariel was about to ask _why_, but the Lunch bell had singled all the freshman to lunch. With one last smile, Namine piled her stuff and quietly departed from the art classroom, leaving behind a very confused and embarrassed Ariel.

00000000

_Why? _

Ariel frowned, as she was making her way through the lunch tables in the cafeteria. The loud noises and talks from the crowd lining up near the lunch corner were oblivious to Ariel as she recounted her memory on drawing Roxas in her sketchpad. Why did she draw him out of all people? Was it because of her worry for him since he was late at school? Yes, that was probably it.. After all.. It was normal to be concerned of your best friend, right?

Shaking her head slightly, she looked up and began to scan the lunch room with her eyes in search of finding a familiar blonde, but failed. Her worries increased tenfold now. Where _was_ Roxas? It wasn't likely that he would skip school or lunch.

She didn't even bother to look for Axel or Demyx. Both were Juniors and they had the same lunch period, though not with Ariel.

Feeling somewhat depressed and lonely, Ariel decided on going to her next hour class and skipping Lunch when a loud call had erupted through the room.

"Yo, Ariel!"

Greatly surprised that someone would make their way out to shout for her, Ariel turned towards the source of the call and saw that it was Hayner, one of Roxas' close friends. The blonde had begun to wave over to her as a brunette girl who accompanied him had tried to quiet him down.

Her spirits raced as she smiled and walked towards the small group and settled herself down next to the brown spiky haired boy called Pence.

"Hi", Ariel greeted kindly, as the three just grinned back.

"Hey Ariel, where's Roxas?", Pence asked, handing her some chocolate dipped strawberries in which she thanked him and took one from his small basket.

"I was going to ask you guys.. Any idea?", Ariel asked, lifting her eyes to Hayner and Olette, while taking a small bite off her strawberry.

"Yeah, I saw him before Lunch. He looked really tired and when I asked where he was going, he said he wanted to go to his next class and wait for it to start..", Olette replied, a bit of concern etched in her voice as she asked, "Is he sick?"

"Not that I know of.. He was fine yesterday… I hope he's not..", Ariel mumbled quietly, the hand holding the strawberry dropped an inch from her mouth as Hayner changed the mood's atmosphere with his grin.

"Roxas isn't that stupid to get a cold. Anyway.. Any plans on what to do after school?", he asked, folding his arms across his chest as he gave his three friends a rather playful glare.

"Hayner.. Is that all you think about?", Pence sighed, shaking his head as Olette frowned.

"Pence's right. You need to concentrate on your test in Biology next period!"

"Relax. I can pass it… probably", Hayner added under his breathe once the brunette had looked away in satisfaction.

Ariel smiled and enjoyed her strawberry while it lasted. The company around her was friendly and really comfortable, but Roxas' tiredness was picking on her mind like a small tack.

_Was he really sick?_

"Ariel? Hey?"

"h-huh?"

Ariel looked up and saw Hayner waving a palm in front of her face. Was she dozing off?

"Daydreaming, huh?", Hayner asked, grinning as he gently pressed a forefinger on her nose in which she gave a tiny yelp.

"Heyy", Ariel whined, as she began to laugh. Yeah, Hayner and his gang were definitely worth hanging out with.

"Oh, yeah. I heard that Nocturne was opening this weekend", Pence said, changing the conversation and topic rather quickly as he clapped his hands together.

"What? Really?", Hayner asked, his eyes widening a friction as he sounded extremely interested.

"Yeah, heard it from Seifer when he was talking to Fuu. This Saturday", Pence grinned, as he began to bite onto his own strawberry dipped chocolate.

"Hmm.. This Saturday huh?", Hayner said thoughtfully, as he scratched his chin. Olette giggled as she looked over at Ariel across from Hayner.

"Are you going too? To the club?"

"Oh, yeah.. I'm going with Axel and maybe Roxas if he wants to.."

"Axel?", Hayner asked confused, before dawn hit him and he gave a '_ohhhh_' expression before saying, "He's the guy that scares Seifer right? He's pretty cool."

Ariel began to laugh. Axel _was_ cool to some extent anyway. But it wasn't the time to be discussing about the redhead. Roxas, was he sick or not?

"Ah, well.. I guess I'll be going now.. It'll really be great if you guys came to the opening party. Sora, Riku and Kairi might go too since they're coming to the Islands tomorrow. And even Namine might come along..", Ariel began.

"Oh yeah! Sora's coming, right? I forgot", Hayner said, looking ashamed that he had forgotten his close friend's relative arriving in a day.

Ariel nodded, smiling. "Well, thanks for inviting me to sit with you guys. I'll see you guys later, kay?"

With that farewell, she stood up and began to walk away as Olette waved goodbye to her retreating back.

00000000

It took her approximately 4 minutes for Ariel to go to her locker, retrieve her History notebook and head over to her class that she shared with Roxas. If Olette was correct, he would already be there.

Another minute was wasted when Ariel entered the classroom and began to turn her head in every direction and angle to find the blond. And she did. He was sitting down on one of the long rectangular tables in the back of the classroom with his head on his arm that blocked his face.

With a relieved sigh, Ariel made her way over and quietly sat down next to Roxas on one of the wooden stools as she placed her notebook in front of her on the black chalky desktop.

"Roxas?"

No answer and no movement were found.

"Roxasssss…… answer meee", Ariel pouted, as she began to gently tug onto his arm. It was quite unlikely to see her pouting, but this was a special case. She was extremely worried whether or not Roxas was sick and he was probably the only few in which she would pout for.

Ariel frowned and folded her arms in anger, but just then the blonde had shifted his arm and exposed his head and face to her while sighing.

Concern now replaced her agitation as she asked in a small voice, "Roxas, are you okay? Are you sick?"

Roxas had parted his lips slightly to respond, when he felt a warm hand press against his forehead. His sapphire blue eyes glanced upwards towards the palm, and then dropped them onto the owner of the hand while he slowly forced a reassuring smile.

"No.. I'm not sick", he said, moving his head away from her hand just slightly to give her the signal of letting go, in which she obediently obeyed.

"Then why? Olette told me you came straight here.. And I haven't seen you this morning or at lunch."

"I..", Roxas began, scratching the back of his head as a few blonde spikes fell down between his eyes. "I'm just a bit tired… Sora called me last night and talked to me for hours.."

He had finished his sentence with a sigh which made Ariel smile. At least he wasn't sick.

"Really? Talking about what?", Ariel grinned. Knowing Roxas' cousin, Sora would talk about almost anything he could think of.

"How excited he was to see me.. to see you", the blond nodded at Ariel slightly before continuing, "he even told me when he's coming tomorrow. At noon exactly.. He asked me to bring you along to the airport.. If you want to go.."

He looked slightly sheepish and Ariel couldn't help but giggle. "Of course I would. Why wouldn't I want to see him and the others?"

"Right, well… the other things he said were pretty random.. Nothing important.."

Ariel just smiled as she nodded.

A minute later, Roxas sighed again and looked apologetic with his tired blue eyes that lost their usual brightness and which had turned dull, "Sorry.. About leaving you earlier.."

Ariel tilted her head slightly to give him a confused look; he managed to give her a true smile. Life began to dance back into his eyes.

"At lunch and in the morning.. Sorry.."

"Oh!", Realization struck Ariel as if a lightning had knocked her back into her senses. Her dark brown eyes widened in surprise. She began to laugh while twirling a strand of her brown layered hair with a finger. "It's okay, Roxy. It's just… you had me worried that you were sick.."

Roxas' smile had gradually turned into a grin as his best friend called him by his infamous nickname: _Roxy. _If it was anyone else who had even whispered that name, Roxas would've hit or possibly thrown the person off their stool but since it was Ariel……

"Right…", Roxas replied softly, but his voice wasn't forced or angry. Rather, gentle enough that puzzled the girl next to him even more.

Ariel decided to shrug off the odd feeling for now since the teacher and a few more students of that class filed inside. She guessed lunch was over and was soon confirmed when she heard crowds of people shouting and laughing down the hallways. Sighing, she placed her head on top of the table and closed her eyes...

_Can't wait till tomorrow.._


	3. Brunet's Arrival

**Unspoken Love**

_Brunet's arrival_

"You want the original one, right?"

"Uh huh! Just hurry, they could be here soon!"

"Yeah..."

Roxas sighed and turned back to the kind lady behind the ice-cream parlor. "Two sea-salts."

"Thank you for your order", the woman replied as the blonde handed the munny over to her and got the ice-cream in exchange. He gave one ice-cream over to Ariel before shoving one hand into his beige pants and resumed walking down the dusty road with his best friend following behind.

"Thanks Rox", Ariel grinned up at him before licking onto the blue substance.

"No problem", Roxas replied. His eyes gazed flicked back forward onto the far distant building that was unmistakably the airport. It was already noon and he and Ariel were heading towards that very building for Sora, Riku and Kairi. Of course, nothing else was better than sea-salt ice cream when you were going on a long trek which caused the two travelers to stop by the parlor and buy two themselves.

For a moment, the only thing that was heard were their tongues flicking over the blue ice and Roxas' throwing star pendant clinking against the zipper of his black tank top shirt.

Then Ariel had broken the silence with a question -

"Roxas? Do you think they're waiting for a gift from me?"

Roxas laughed lightly as he shook his blonde hair that reflected as orange in the sun before saying, "Nah.. Maybe Sora, but not Riku or Kairi."

"Riku…", Ariel muttered to herself as she bit off a little chunk of ice-cream on the popsicle. Roxas had heard her small comment and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye before keeping his cool glare onto the ground beneath his feet while walking.

Even after nearly 4 years, Roxas knew Ariel still had feelings for the platinum headed Riku. The blond wasn't even sure why the two had called their relationship off, but he knew both were never exactly happy after that incident. Roxas thought it was because of having a long-distance relationship that made Riku get a little upset since he was still living in Twilight Town and Ariel continued to stay on Destiny Island. Even on Ariel's birthdays, Riku would always make them feel special when they were together, but when they had broken up Roxas was the one who replaced the silver head by trying his best to give her a fun birthday each year.

Roxas wasn't even sure why he found that as his responsibility of giving her a cheerful birthday. It was probably because he was the only best friend at the time, before Axel and Demyx had came into the picture. Even Hayner, Olette and Pence would come to the parties since Riku wouldn't be able to make it every year.. That was what made Roxas angry. If it was someone you cared about, you were supposed to come to their birthday no matter how busy you were. And Ariel had made it out of her way to come to all of _his_ parties after all.

"Roxas?"

Roxas blinked and turned his head over to the girl beside him who wore an amused expression. He must have dazed off for a minute because Ariel had pointed to his ice cream bar and giggled, "It's melting."

_Oh…_

"Sorry.."

"Is something wrong?", Ariel laughed cheerfully as she held up her finished popsicle stick and waved it slightly. "You always beat me on finishing your ice-cream. You're late today!"

"Haha.. Yeah, sorry", Roxas repeated. He grinned hastily before finishing up his own ice-cream and continued walking towards the path to the tall marble-like building, leaving Ariel behind to ponder on his sudden daze.

Ariel folded her arms and pouted. "What's up with him?"

00000000

"ROXAS!"

The blond had turned to the familiar voice, but before he could see the person, he was soon tumbled onto the ground with a brunet on top, who was hugging the life out of him.

"Ow… Hi.. Sora..", Roxas greeted weakly as he tried to push his cousin off of him.

"Hey Ariel!", Sora said grinning, as he waved and jumped off the poor teenager. With a small glare, Roxas helped himself up while dusting off his pants and shirt.

"Hi", Ariel smiled, and soon shared it with Kairi and Riku who had just walked up beside Sora.

"Hey", Riku greeted, smirking at the girl as the redhead Kairi giggled and nodded kindly.

"I've really missed you guys-", Ariel began, when someone had suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a warm but tight hug.

"Ah, Sora?", Ariel laughed shakily as she blushed at the sudden contact. She knew he hadn't meant anything but a friendly hug, but close contact with boys always made her flush in embarrassment.

"I've missed you!", Sora exclaimed, letting her go as he continued with a grin, "Roxas told me everything while I was gone."

"Everything?", Ariel asked, looking questionably over at the blond, who shrugged.

While Ariel and Sora were conversing with Kairi listening to them, Roxas was busying himself by staring at Riku, who was glancing over at Ariel's bare legs that weren't concealed by her denim skirt. A growl was about to rise up in his throat, but that was before Riku had noticed his constant glares and decided to speak.

"Roxas."

"Riku." Roxas stated flatly, his sapphire blue eyes narrowing to tell him telepathically that it was over between him and her but it didn't last long when Sora had spoken.

"We should leave now. I'm getting hungry…"

"Not before you fill in your apartment", Roxas said, not meaning to have a sharp edge on his voice.

"Roxas? Is something wrong?", Kairi asked, a small smile still on her lips as she studied him carefully. He sighed inwardly. Why did that remind him so much of Ariel?

He shook his head, as his chain dangled from his neck. "I'm fine.. C'mon, I'll show you where you're staying.."

00000000

It took a while for Sora, Kairi and Riku to move in on their small patio-like apartment next to the cliff of the Islands. Their trunks and bags were extremely heavy that even Ariel and Roxas were bulging under the weight. It was perhaps a lucky thing that furniture was not needed since the apartment already provided those for the tourists.

Once they were settled in, Riku had opened the lace curtains in the living room sliding door to expose the view of the beach.

"Wow..", Sora commented, grinning as he sat on the white leather sofa against the wall.

"It's beautiful…", Kairi added, but then turned to Ariel. "I really want to see Sunset Mall.. I haven't been there in a long time."

"Oh, sure. I'll go", Ariel nodded, taking the small hint of the invitation the redhead was giving her. With a quick smile, Kairi fixed her pink dress and announced, "Well, we'll be going then. Ok Sora?"

Sora had nodded, obviously too exhausted to speak as he gave her a tired grin.

Ariel tried to bid farewell to Roxas, who was next to Sora. When she caught his eye, he gave her half of a smile. Satisfied with his reaction, Ariel had followed Kairi out of the apartment's front door.

Roxas then turned his head over to his cousin. "Sora, you said you were hungry, right?"

Sora nodded eagerly, and Roxas grinned. "Yeah, someone told me there was a restaurant that opened last week."

"Really? What kind of food?"

"Barbeque."

"Hmm.. Okay, let's go! I'm in the mood for some barbeque", Sora laughed, punching his fist into the air before his blue eyes widened and which had glanced over at Riku. "Riku, come with us!"

The older teen seemed to be thinking of considering it, but shook his head. "Nah.."

"Aw, why not?", Sora pouted which made Roxas roll his eyes. Sora's pout always seemed to work on anyone, including him. Even though the two were cousins, they were nearly identical which resulted in people thinking they were twins. So of course, Roxas had inherited the cute pouty-look from Sora, but refused to use it unless it was needed and proved to be helpful to his advantage.

Riku was the first Roxas had seen to deject the look, or maybe he avoided looking at Sora because the platinum-head had sighed and shook his head. "No, Sora.. I'm tired.. I want rest."

"Fine, be that way", Sora shot, sounding a bit irritated and rejected as he suddenly stood up from sitting on the couch. The brunet then headed over to the front door of the apartment before glaring at the blond who was still relaxing on the couch. "Coming?"

Roxas nodded, and stretched his arms to the ceiling before mimicking Sora and headed towards the door…

00000000

Meanwhile some miles away from the boys, Ariel and Kairi were sitting on comfortable leather seats while enjoying their French fries and sandwiches from A&W.

"I wonder what they're doing…", Ariel muttered boredly, while twirling her straw in the mug of her root beer.

Kairi giggled as she bit the top of a French fry. "I'm sure they're fine. You're awfully worried about Roxas."

"No I'm-ah, I- ahhhhh….", Ariel began to stutter, and when she realized this, she flushed in embarrassment.

"It's okay.. I understand", Kairi smiled and finished her one fry and was going for another when Ariel began, "What do you mean you understand?"

"I understand you're worried. After all, you've been with him since you were little, right?"

"Well.. Yeah… "

Kairi just grinned knowingly as she took a sip from her root beer. She nearly choked on the drink when she had heard Ariel's next question.

"But it's just a best friend feeling. Almost like how you and Sora are, right?"

"Um.. Sure.."

Ariel was too busy eating her hamburger that she hadn't noticed the blush creeping up on Kairi's cheek.

"Sora, slow down", Roxas laughed, as he watched his cousin in exasperation and amusement, down his steak.

"Sorry Rox. It's just.. Really good", Sora gulped before finishing his sentence as he grinned and reached over for his coke. "We should've brought Riku with us."

Roxas just glanced at Sora before cutting a small piece out of his steak. "Yeah.."

Sora looked up from his drink and smiled, but it looked more like a grimace as he said, "You've been really down lately, Roxas. Did something happen while I wasn't here?"

"Huh? No. It's just… nothing. I have a lot of things on my mind..", Roxas replied, slowly stabbing his fork onto the piece of meat he cut off.

Sora nodded in understanding as he smiled gently. "Okay.. Just let me know when you're ready to tell me."

"…right…", Roxas nodded once before reluctantly raising his fork and biting off the small portion of meat.


	4. Nocturne

**Unspoken Love**

_Nocturne_

"Thanks", a spiky blond had said kindly to the man behind the store counter before receiving his change of munny and his blue sea-salt ice cream.

He had just exited the small shop building when a vibration was felt near his thigh. Holding onto the ice-cream's popsicle stick, the boy had reached into his pants pockets and retrieved his black collateral before flipping it open and holding it between his ear and shoulder as he busied himself by unwrapping the plastic around the blue ice.

"Roxas", the blond had said monotonously as he continued with the feud of getting the thin translucent sheet off of the ice-cream.

"Yo, Rox. Dem called and told me that Nocturne's finally open", the all too familiar voice of a very familiar redhead had sounded in Roxas' ear as he finally bit a small piece off of the ice-cream after removing the wrap and throwing it into a nearby local trashcan.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah.. Thought you'd want to go."

"Right.. Sure, I'll have to talk with Ariel about it."

There was some small laughing on the other end which made Roxas scowl in confusion.

"What?", the blond snapped, as the laughing ceased just a little.

"Can't decide on your own? You're really getting hooked, huh?"

"No, it's not like that. It's just.. she wanted to go before… So I thought I'd take her", Roxas replied in a firm tone, while he frowned. He didn't want Axel to get the wrong idea that the two of them were together. Because they weren't. They were just best friends… maybe sibling-like, but just friends.

"Whatever, Rox", Axel yawned which didn't get rid of Roxas' fowl temper as the redhead continued, "Guess I'll see ya tonight then." Roxas could almost hear the smirk on the older boy's lips as he said that.

"hmm.."

"All right, see ya…"

"..bye..", Roxas said quietly into the phone before closing it shut. He wondered _why_ Axel would make it seem like he and Ariel were a dating couple. It was starting to be really frustrating. Ariel wouldn't have liked that… would she?

With a new question burning into his mind, Roxas shook off the feeling and continued heading towards the architectural structure in where Sora and his friends stayed for the summer.

00000000

"But Roxas… Aerith is coming home tonight. She called me earlier because you didn't answer the phone…", Sora began slowly, looking a bit worried once Roxas had finished telling his cousin and friends about Nocturne's opening that Saturday night.

Time seemed to have froze, because everyone turned their heads to look at the blonde, who seemed clear of all emotion, until -

"What?"

Sora sighed and looked at his friends for help. Kairi and Riku shrugged, and Ariel (who was staying over since she was bored), had cleared her throat and explained in the most simplest way possible.

"Roxy, your mom's coming home from her trip tonight.. Did you forget?"

Roxas blinked before folding his arms across his chest, looking a bit offended. "No.. I thought she wasn't coming till another week from now."

"No, she called today and told me to pick her up. She was a bit surprised I was here actually..", Sora said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head before laughing. "She even said to pick her up. With you along with me."

Roxas sighed, and Ariel saw his shoulders droop. She couldn't blame him. Picking up his mother from the airport meant he had to miss the beginning of the opening ceremony of Nocturne. Still, his mother was a lawyer, and she had an urgent call from her manager of holding a trial somewhere in Louisiana. It's been a while since Ariel has seen or heard from his mother, but occasionally learned from Roxas about her status and how she was.

"I guess… we'll just have to wait for you two, huh?", Riku said coolly, leaning his back against the couch while he sat on the clean carpet floor. It took exactly a minute until Sora realized what he was talking about.

"What?.. Wait, that means…", Sora began, frowning in concentration before his eyes widened in shock and he turned to Roxas. "We'll have to miss it!"

Roxas gave a small nod grimly, as Kairi quickly spoke, "But we'll wait for you two! Right, Riku?"

"Sure."

"I'll wait too", Ariel grinned at Roxas, who returned the smile just as purely.

Sora had sighed. "It's not fair…"

Sora would've been careless enough to miss that smile Roxas had given Ariel, but Riku did not. His ocean-blue eyes narrowed as he surveyed the blonde closely, who was now listening politely to Kairi and Ariel who were telling him about the shopping they did the day before. Unlike Sora, Riku was sharp and he didn't let things slide as easily…

00000000

It was nearly past midday and the two groups were now separated to go their own ways. Sora and Roxas to the airport to retrieve their aunt or mother from the trip and Ariel, Kairi and Riku to the Nocturne club.

Sora was conversing with Kairi about how he might be late to the party, while Ariel and Roxas stood beside them, listening and occasionally joining in the conversation.

It was not until a hand had grabbed his wrist when Roxas tore his eyes away from his cousin and friends. The person he was facing now was Riku, who had an odd glimmer in his blue-green irises.

Roxas opened his mouth to ask what exactly the platinum thought he was doing, when Riku had dragged him carefully away from the small group without attracting attention.

Once Riku thought it was safe, and a good twelve feet away from the group, did he let go of the blonde's arm.

"Riku-", Roxas began, anger apparent in his tone of voice, when he got cut off abruptly.

"I know what you're up to."

"…what?"

The silver head folded his arms across his chest, looking a bit apprehensive. "I know exactly how you feel."

"Feel? About what?" Roxas was now starting to feel his irritation rise as he looked into those bright ocean-blue eyes that seemed to look right at his soul. It was as if Riku knew something he didn't, which he didn't like the aspect of.

Riku let out a short bark of laughter, which made Roxas stiffen in anger. What the _hell_ was so funny to him?

"Wow.. I never thought I'd meet someone even denser than Sora. Well, I guess that's the least you can expect from relatives."

"What the hell do you want, Riku?", Roxas said in a low angry tone. He was really starting to get pissed off. First this guy tells him he knew something Roxas doesn't, and now he's insulting him? How irritating.

Riku shot an amused glance over at the girls and Sora, before turning back to Roxas' angry figure. There was a moment of silence between the two boys, before Riku clapped a hand onto the blonde's shoulder and said in a small but sincere voice, "Take care of her."

Roxas' signs of annoyance and anger disappeared to be replaced by confusion and speechlessness. _What is he talking about?_

But without even explaining himself on why he had said those words of advice, Riku left the still stunned Roxas, to join up with the others.

00000000

"Wow.. It's so.. Lively", Ariel commented as her eyes widened while she stared and observed every crack and corner of the large and rather long Nocturne building. Even though it's been a half hour since Nocturne had opened, there were large crowds dancing or just meeting up with their friends. Neon lights were spread throughout the entire atmosphere, and a single disco globe was hanging from the ceiling in the center of the dance floor.

Kairi began to laugh happily. "Come on, let's dance!"

With that, she had left to the floor while Riku headed off in another direction. Ariel however, went to the bar, hoping to meet the co-owner of the club. And she did. The person was sitting near one of the tall stools near the back of the counter while strumming gentle fingers on the strings of his sitar.

"Hello, waiter!", Ariel called teasingly, as she waved.

The man's head snapped up and his eyes widened. "Ariel!"

She began to giggle when he placed the sitar carefully against the wall and approached the girl, leaning over to the counter to speak with her. "You really came!"

"Yup, didn't think I would?", Ariel asked, as she glanced around for Kairi and Riku. Riku was too busy talking to Namine to care about the dances being produced by Kairi and a couple of more girls.

"Not really.. But I'm glad you came!", Demyx had said, grinning while he turned his head to look for Roxas. "Hey.. Roxas isn't here, is he?"

"No, he had to pick his mom up from the airport", Ariel sighed. She wished he was here right now, at least she would have a dance partner.

"Oh.."

"Where's Xig?", Ariel asked, smiling. Demyx shrugged. "He had some friends come over, and I think they're in the back playing poker or something."

"He left the management to you?", Ariel asked, surprised while the blonde nodded.

"It's not that bad. It's fun", Demyx shrugged yet again as his smile widened.

Before Ariel could reply or agree with the teenager, she found herself being dragged off her stool and towards the center floor.

"Kairi, what are you doing?", Ariel asked, trying to yank her arm out of the redhead's grip but failed.

"It's not fun if you don't dance!", was her only reply before dropping the poor girl off and disappearing behind a thick crowd.

"Ah, Kairi!", Ariel shouted, trying to look past the people and their heads, but couldn't see the other girl anywhere. Sighing, she slowly swayed back and forth lazily, having no urge or desire to dance at all until a familiar bright red headed man began making his way towards her.

"Axel, so you came too?", Ariel grinned up at the man who smirked.

"Sure", he said simply, as he danced with her, forcing her to keep along with him and the beat.

Ariel was rather enjoying herself by dancing with the redhead. It surprised her that someone like Axel would be able to dance so good; his body moved with the beat rather well and she wasn't going to show that she couldn't follow his lead. When she was thinking about whether she should go order a drink from the bar since her throat was getting parched, Axel had spoken.

"He really likes you, you know."

"Huh?", Ariel asked, a slight frown appearing on her face as she tried to stabilize her dancing and hear his words.

"Rox", Axel announced, giving his wrist a little wave as he continued, "He likes you."

It seemed Ariel had taken in the words Axel had said because she quickly stopped dancing and said in a serious voice. "What..?"

Axel's smirk had changed into a mischievous grin as an idea clicked in his head. But to make this plan work, he had to make sure _he_ was here.

_Ah_

And he was. Looking past Ariel's confused face and over her head had revealed the very person Axel was waiting for. Roxas. He was walking in through the main entrance doors with Sora, looking rather impressed by the new club.

The redhead looked back down at the girl, who was giving him a suspicious look. He had to admit, she was pretty cute; he didn't blame Roxas for falling for someone like her. And just for that, it would make his plan work all the better.

So the redheaded man had leaned down very slowly, making his face exactly four inches apart from hers. "He likes you… got it memorized?"

And without further ado, he swooped down and caught her lips with his. At that exact same moment, Roxas had chose to glance over while preoccupying himself for looking for Ariel, when his heart stopped beating.

Ariel's eyes grew wide as a pair of dinner plates while she stood there, completely frozen and motionless. If her mind was wheeling correctly, she would've thought that he was a good and a professional kisser, but it seemed her brain had stopped functioning.

After a good 5 seconds at kissing the younger girl, Axel had drew back to admire his work. Ariel, as he suspected, had gaped and looked utterly confused while behind her, Roxas had seemed to be speechless but extremely furious.

A sly smirk covered his lips. _Perfect…_

"Wh…Why did you…?", Ariel began to stutter as she gave Axel a startling look.

He glanced back down before leaning down again. This time, his mouth hadn't covered hers, but her ear, where he whispered into it gently. "So Roxas can see."

"Roxas..? He's not here. He went to pick his mom up from the airport", Ariel said quickly, feeling rather tense with someone so close to her. Why couldn't she move away? God, why couldn't she just move her feet and walk away?!

Low laughter filled Ariel's eardrums as Axel kissed the tip of her earlobe. It seemed he was taking advantage of the girl now that she was defenseless. Roxas would probably get angry and swing a punch or two at the redhead, but he can handle the blonde later. His job wasn't complete yet, after all…

"Mm, but that's where you're wrong..", Axel said smoothly into her ear.

Ariel's head snapped up as she quickly turned around towards the two main doors to find someone with spiky blonde hair pushing past a few girls to get out of the club.

"Roxas!", Ariel called after him, but he seemed to ignore her or couldn't hear her over the loud music. She looked back at Axel with hurt misting over her eyes while he displayed no expression.

"Don't let me down." Were his only words that had a soft tone of seriousness before Ariel turned back towards the doors in which Roxas had just left through.

With regrets and guilt filling her body, she rushed after him, hoping for him that he'd understand what had happened. But.. Why was she so worried that he wouldn't want to hear her explanation?

Axel then smirked after her, while having his arms folded across his chest. His rather bright green eyes lost their spark as he chuckled. He hadn't expected his idea would turn out rather better than what he had planned. Normally, he wouldn't do anything to hurt or depress his friends in any way due to his reputation of being protective of them, but these two would be an exception. They just didn't know what was good for them even though it was right in front of their eyes; all they needed was a slight push. And he tried his hardest not to admit that he had enjoyed the session he had with the girl. _No..__Roxas__' girl_, Axel corrected with a laugh.

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"Roxas.. Roxas!"

Her pleas and cried for her best friend fell on deaf ears, as Ariel ran throughout every possible place the blond might be. He had left the club rather quickly and disappeared from her sight when she exited Nocturne.

The sun was beginning to set, while it cast an orange glow among the Island as Ariel wiped the forming tears away from her eyes.

"Roxas…", she muttered quietly. She wasn't sure why, but she felt as if she had betrayed him. Betrayed him for Axel. But that wasn't what occurred. Axel was the one who kissed her. Axel was the one who told her that Roxas had liked her. Was it that obvious for everyone but her to see that Roxas wanted her more than a friend?

Now that she had thought about it, and her mind was working properly, there were times when Roxas showed a slight affection for her.

But why? Why did Axel do that? Was he trying to help her? Or perhaps help Roxas?

Ariel's eyes watered at the thought. Axel kissed her to get Roxas jealous and angry, she knew of that. But why did he push so far as to do the things he did?

_He was trying to push his limit. To see what I'd do… To see what will happen if I knew __Roxas__ saw that__ Whether I'd chase after him or stand my ground… _

Yet, even without anyone telling her whether she was correct, she knew it was exactly what the redhead had planned. He _did_ start the kissing even when he knew Roxas was standing behind her all along. So Axel was helping her.. No, helping _them_ to get together as lovers. And no way in heaven or hell will she let this opportunity slip by her. Axel helped her as much as he could, and now it was her chance to get things right since she knew about Roxas' true feelings.

With new determination, Ariel continued onward, towards the one place she hasn't yet checked. The beach…

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Roxas sighed, as he folded his legs against his chest and sat on the sandy shore of the Destiny Island's local beach. It was beautiful; the sand was glowing bright orange due to the sun that was now setting and the surface of the water was glittering in the sunlight.

He placed his chin on his kneecap and wrapped his arms around his legs. There, in that position did he sit in a confused and somewhat fury manner.

_Why? Why did __she__……_

Roxas' thoughts had trailed off sadly when he heard panting from behind him. Unwrapping his arms from his legs, he turned very slightly to see a huffing and flustered Ariel clutching her heart.

For a split and quick second, Roxas was concerned whether she had had a heart attack, but when she gave him a sad and apologetic look, his worries slowly etched away and was shown as blankness.

His attention turned back towards the shore of the beach. After a minute, the girl had accompanied him and he was silently grateful for her company.

It seemed a whole hour until Ariel had decided to speak; by now the sand was holding a shade of blue as the moon above was shining its light upon the beach.

"Roxas.. I'm so sorry.."

The said person didn't reply but simply stare harder and more intently at the calm ocean.

Ariel had sighed and it sounded more depressed than anything as Roxas glanced at her out of the corner of an eye. She was looking down at the grains of sand beneath her while she chose her words carefully.

"I know that you're… angry about what happened… but it's not my or Axel's fault. Well maybe it is.. I guess I could've pushed him away or something, but I was just too… shocked.. And Axel.. He was just doing it to help me.. Or us.. He knew something I didn't and.. He was just trying to help.. That's.. all…"

Roxas waited until her words faded away until he closed his eyes and smiled coldly at the ocean. "Huh."

Ariel didn't miss that cruel and unbelieving smile as she called almost desperately, "Roxas.. Please believe me, I swear I didn't-"

But the rest of her words were blocked out as a mouth covered hers. Her eyes widened just like back at the club as she realized Roxas was kissing her. _Her_, out of all girls.

Feeling a bit dominant and sorry at diving into it like how he did, Roxas ignored the feeling and gave her a chaste kiss. It was more of a question as it was an answer as he waited for her response. He understood now.. How he had absentmindedly stormed out of the club in anger and why he felt murderous when he saw Axel was kissing _her_. There was no other explanation for the jealously boiling deep within his stomach either: he liked her. More than a friend, someone who he wished he could stay with.. _together_It felt extremely absurd to admit it because Roxas had grown up in life assuming that relationships would just cause problems and the typical high school drama. Though, deep in his heart he knew It was the right thing to do and that it was the correct decision. After all, he knew Ariel for his entire life.. He wouldn't mind spending the rest of it with her in it; or else he wouldn't have it any other way.

And his stomach seemed to flutter and lose all of its fury contents as Ariel returned the kiss. Roxas knew it was an answer to his question: she liked him back. And that was enough to make him smile and sigh in content into the kiss.

After a good 6 seconds of the session, Roxas had pulled back just an inch to give Ariel enough room to breathe. He stared at her in adoration and in peace; she blushed. Maybe Axel was right.. He really _is_ getting hooked.

His thoughts were drifting elsewhere until he blinked and looked back down at the girl. She was tracing small circles on his throwing star pendant while having a small smile on her lips.

"I was planning on letting you hold onto it, ya know…", Roxas said softly, as he watched her in small amusement.

"Really? But I thought it was your favorite necklace?", she asked, glancing up at him with a puzzled look.

Roxas gave her a smile - a true smile that lifted from his heart that made Ariel feel pleased that _she_ was the one who received that reward.

He lifted the chain from his neck and gently slipped it through her head.

Ariel looked down at the pendant for just a moment before giving him a grin. "Thanks.. Roxy.."

He just tucked a piece of her brown hair behind her ear while leaning in slowly for another kiss, when a small musical melody erupted into the night.

Ariel was also leaning up to close the gap between them when she heard a ring and sighed in disappointment. She reached into her pocket and flipped her silver phone open before sighing, "hello?"

"Good evening, is this Ariel?"

"Um, yes.. This is her, but who is..?", Ariel began, giving Roxas a confused glance before gazing out at the ocean while listening warily.

"This is Emily from Petland and I'm calling to inform you that the husky has still not been sold. He is past two months and I'm afraid that he would be sent to a society for young animals or to another adoption center."

A gasp left Ariel's lips as her mouth fell open. Roxas gave her a worried look as he tried to make out her expression but failed. It seemed her face was shining with anxiety, surprise, shock, happiness and complete puzzlement. He sighed in defeat as he folded his arms behind his head and leaned back onto the soft sand, using his laced arms as a pillow. He closed his eyes and felt the cool night breeze gently whip through his blonde spikes.

It seemed he was in a world of his own. Roxas was now oblivious to Ariel's frantic excited mutterings into the phone as he smiled. Everything was perfect it seemed. Nothing else would be such a problem in his life anymore, like how the few past weeks had been.

After a few more minutes, he distinctly heard the snapping of a phone shutting and soon felt a prescense beside him. The person was shifting slightly to rest their hand on his elbow while laying their head down next to his own. He sighed in content as he slowly intertwined his fingers with hers and opened his sapphire blue eyes to the cloudless sky.

Ariel's eyes never left his face as she noticed the moon reflecting beautifully in his eyes which made her smile carelessly. The girl guessed she would have to wait just a while for announcing to the blond about buying the husky that was being offered to her through the phone call. After all, she didn't want to break this peaceful and comfortable moment with him. Not until they would have to leave to go home once they hear Sora or Riku's calls…

Soon joining with him to stare up at the bright white moon, Ariel grinned to herself. It really was a perfect day… a perfect night where no words were needed to explain their feelings to each other. An Unspoken Love.


End file.
